It has been known to attach elastic bands to wearing articles such as disposable diapers along peripheries of waist-openings and/or leg-openings to define elastic regions along these peripheries.
In the disposable absorbent pants disclosed, for example, by JP 62-243806 A (PATENT REFERENCE 1), elastic members made of, for example, urethane foam (Spandex), each having the width in a range of 10 to 45 mm, are bonded to the respective peripheries of the waist-opening and the leg-openings to form these peripheries with the elastic regions including gathers. The elastic members extend straight in the transverse direction of the pants along the periphery of the waist-opening. However, along the periphery of each leg-opening, some of the elastic members extend straight in the transverse direction of the pants while other elastic members extend straight in the vertical direction of the pants.
In the disposable diaper disclosed by JP 07-308341 A (PATENT REFERENCE 2), leg-surrounding gasket-cuffs are formed with curved elastic regions. These elastic regions are obtained by bonding belt-like elastic sheet members evenly stretched in the length direction to the respective gasket-cuffs so that the regions along which the elastic sheet members are bonded to the gasket-cuffs may describe curved lines. The elastic sheet members are integrated with the gasket-cuffs to define the elastic regions around the wearer's legs. Polyurethane foam (Spandex), polyethylene foam or the like are used as material for the elastic sheet members.
In both of the known articles using belt-like elastic members to define elastic regions, the preferred belt-like elastic members are made of urethane foam (Spandex). The belt-like elastic members made of such material are elastically deformable in a recoverable manner as these elastic members are compressed in the thickness direction and whereby render the peripheries of the waist- and/or leg-openings comprising such elastic members soft and comfortably textured. The known wearing articles also use, in addition to urethane foam, plastic film, thin layered sheet of natural rubber, synthetic rubber or the like, and melt blown non-woven fabric as the material for the belt-like elastic members. However, it is often difficult for an elastic member made of plastic film, thin layered sheet of rubber or non-woven fabric to be as elastically recoverable as an elastic member made of polyurethane foam. Consequently, it is difficult for elastic members made of such plastic films, thin layered sheets of rubber or non-woven fabrics to render the peripheries of the waist- and/or leg-openings soft and comfortably textured.
There is a need to provide waist- and/or leg-openings with soft and comfortably textured peripheries even when these peripheries are elasticized by elastic members made of elastically contractible non-woven fabric.